Paychex VP: 'Distributed workforce continues to be a challenge'

HR tech firm tackles recruitment, retention and 'significant amount' of regulation

BY John Corrigan 10 Oct 2022

Businesses are contending with four massive challenges right now, according to Tom Hammond, vice president of corporate strategy and product management at Rochester, NY-based HR tech firm Paychex Flex, which currently has approximately 730,000 clients.

Those challenges are recruiting and retaining talent, historic inflation, engaging employees in a remote/hybrid world and regulatory pressure.

“The distributed workforce continues to be a challenge that is driving technology,” Hammond told HRD. “We’re also seeing a significant amount of regulation that continues to come at both the federal and state level. Keeping pace with that is even more challenging for businesses with employees outside of their traditional hiring domain, which puts pressure on them to have a tech partner they can trust.”

Offering a bevy of products and services to alleviate these issues is what led Paychex to being named one of HRD America’s inaugural 5-Star Software and Technology Providers.

The report examines what HR professionals in the United States think of the current HR software landscape and which companies perform best in four categories: HRIS solutions, payroll solutions, recruitment software solutions and reward and recognition. Integration with payroll, employment agencies and onboarding platforms have also been listed as primary factors in choosing the winners, along with efficiency, ease of use and best bang for your buck.

In the process of selecting the best HR software and technology providers for 2022, the HRD team conducted one-on-one interviews with HR professionals and surveyed thousands more within HRD's network to gain a keen understanding of what these professionals think about current market offerings. Respondents were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the HR technology providers they had dealt with across four categories: payroll solutions, HRIS solutions, reward and recognition, and recruitment software solutions. At the end of the 15-week research period, 18 companies were named 5-Star Award winners.

To see the full list of winners, click here.